Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
We both started laughing hysterically at the thought.
He made me so happy.
I kissed him. “No way. I want you just the way you are all of the time. And I want them to meet you.”
He jumped up. “Shit. You had me so distracted last night, I totally forgot about your birthday gift.”
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“It’s in my room.”
Jake ran down the hall and returned with a small black velvet bag with a rope string and sat down on the bed. “My brother-in-law had given one of these to my sister on Christmas. It made me want to get one for you, so I went online that night and ordered one. I didn’t even know when I was going to give it to you. It happened to come in the mail yesterday. I would say after last night, the timing was perfect. I hope you like it.”
Prying the drawstring open, I pulled out a beautiful sterling silver charm bracelet.
I held it in my hand and turned to him. “Jake…”
He took it from me, opened the lobster clasp and placed it on my wrist. “You can actually go online and custom make these with whatever charms you want. They have literally every single thing you can think of. These are all the things that remind me of you.” He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it.
I touched each charm with my fingertips and was floored by the thought he had put into selecting them. There was an airplane, a pair of dice, a four-leaf clover, an angel…even a little bat.
“This…this is the most thoughtful present I have ever received. I can’t believe you were thinking of me like that over Christmas.”
“I couldn’t get you off my mind over Christmas. You knew that. Didn’t I make it painfully obvious?”
“Sort of. But I loved it. I love this. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby. I am glad you like it.”
I got up and straddled him. “I haven’t even had a chance to get you a gift.”
“You are my gift.”
That moment was the single most precious of my life. I might as well have handed him my heart on a silver platter; it was his.
It wouldn’t be long, though, before he would shatter it into a million pieces.
CHAPTER 20
The alarm went off at noon, and I was still exhausted. Jake must have set it before he left for work so that I wouldn’t sleep the entire day away. I had fallen back asleep in his arms shortly after he had given me the bracelet in the middle of the night and slept like a log after that.
I stretched my arms in the air and yawned, smiling when I noticed a new origami bat on the nightstand. I opened it.
I am batshit crazy for you. See you tonight.
I kissed it and put it in the drawer with all of the rest, but that one was, by far, my favorite. Last night changed everything between us, and there was no going back. I sniffed my hair and could smell Jake all over it, all over me. His cologne and the scent of his body coated me after our long night of lovemaking. My lips were swollen, and I was sore in all the right places, still intoxicated by him.
Six o’clock could not come soon enough because I was craving him again already. I was distracted and giddy, barely able to focus on what to wear. I looked down at the charm bracelet and closed my eyes. How had I lived my entire life without him?
Dread soon set in as I reminded myself that we were having that talk tonight. I just wanted to get it over with, so we could move on. Whatever he needed to tell me, I would deal with it. It would be okay. We would be okay. We were in love, and that was all that mattered.
Tarah was in the kitchen making a smoothie when I emerged from my room. I was startled to see her because I had forgotten that the salon was closed on Mondays and that she would be home at this time. I prepared myself for the third degree.
She stopped the blender. “Well, good morning at half past one.”
“I know. We didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Oh, believe me, none of us did.”
I covered my face in embarrassment. “Shit. Were we that loud?”
“I’m pretty sure my parents in Staten Island and my cousins in Jersey heard you. Yes, you were definitely loud. Was it as good as it sounded?
“What do you think?”
“You’re flushed. I think he was just as good in bed as he looks like he’d be, if not better.”
“You would be correct.”
“Uh, yeah…I figured. Actually, I almost wish you had let me tell Ry about your feelings for Jake all this time, because he was seriously shocked. He had no idea that you two were more than friends.”